How to Grow Gerbera Daisies from Seed

Gerbera daisies are a little tricky to grow from seed, but it definitely can be done. Follow these tips for propagating and growing Gerbera daisies from seed in your garden.

Collect Viable Seeds: This is the most important tip! Your Gerbera daisy blossom will soon start to look like a dandelion, covered in seeds, but most of those seeds aren’t viable. The seeds look kind of like little brooms, with a hairy brush at one end and the seed at the other. Sort through the seeds, and choose only the ones with a fat, fertilized seed pod.

Help Pollinate Flowers: To help your plant make more viable seeds, use a small brush (like a makeup brush) to spread pollen from flower to flower. Or when you cut a blossom to use in a flower arrangement, rub its face against another flower to help spread the pollen.

How to Plant and Grow Gerbera Daisy Seeds

Preparing to plant daisy seeds.Step #1: Prepare Trays: Fill trays or pots with a light seed starting medium, or make your own mix using peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. Dampen the medium with water.

Step #2: Plant Seeds: Use a toothpick to poke a hole in the planting medium. Plant the Gerbera daisy seeds with the seed end pointing down, and the little brush part just barely at the top of the soil.

Step #3: Grow Seeds: Keep the seeds moist, but not waterlogged, and above 70° F, with eight hours or more of bright light per day. The easiest way to do this is to cover the trays with a clear plastic tent and place them indoors in a bright window or under grow lights. When the Gerbera daisy seeds germinate in two to three weeks, remove the plastic cover but keep the seedlings moist.

Gerbera daisy seedling.Step #4: Transplant Seedlings: After the Gerbera daisy seedlings have developed two sets of true leaves, you can carefully transplant the plants to larger pots.

Step #5: Harden Plants: When it’s consistently warm outside, and the Gerbera daisy plants are hardy and growing, move the pots outdoors to a protected spot for a few days to get the young plants used to the breezes and temperature shifts found outside.

Step #6: Enjoy Flowers: At this point, you can leave the daisies in their pots or plant them in the yard. Locate the plants in a spot with plenty of morning sun and a little afternoon shade to keep them from wilting. Feed the plants regularly with a balanced organic fertilizer, and keep them watered but not soggy.

Backed by his 40-year remodeling career, Danny served as the home improvement expert for CBS’s The Early Show and The Weather Channel for more than a decade. His extensive hands-on experience and understanding of the industry make him the go-to source for all things having to do with the home – from advice on simple repairs, to complete remodels, to helping homeowners prepare their homes for extreme weather and seasons.

Thank you. This explains why I have not been able to get my seeds to germinate. I never realized that I needed to differentiate between the the skinny seeds and the fat seeds. Hopefully, I’ll have better luck now.

Sir, I am a small farmer.Guide me how to grow gerbera in my farm. From where I could get garbera seeds near by panel. Also what type of soil/climate/water required for good and healthy flowers to grow.

Hello . I live on the big island of Hawaii. In captain cook , its on the kona side . I love gerberas. So where can I buy the seeds locally? And can I even grow gerberas in this zone . I try to grow them in idaho but realize , they gotta be at least in zone 9. Thank you .dasha

This is most probably the best article that I have read about growing Gerbera daisies from seeds. I have grown about ten Gerbera daisies from seeds this year but that was pure luck. I am sure that I will be more successful by following the above instructions. Thank you!!

Hi, Jill,
Not sure about Australia as we’re based in the United States.
Here in Alabama, we germinate gerbera seeds in the early spring.
We recommend asking local nurseries for best practices there.
Good luck — gerberas look so beautiful in any garden!